


i adore you (enough to get dizzy)

by so_real



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Banter, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Quidditch, for the second chapter, if you like hp but hate jkr read this, little gremlin awkward nerd!Hongjoong, mentioned side yunsan, popular jock with a heart of gold!Seonghwa, ravenclaw!Hongjoong, side woosang, slytherin!Seonghwa, soft times, theres some, very good boyos jonggi, whats the opposite of slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26587429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/so_real/pseuds/so_real
Summary: 'Hongjoong’s hair has been the same pearly white the seven years Seonghwa has known him, and despite the bad tongues saying that he dyes it to appear more edgy or cool, Seonghwa has always harbored his very own personal belief that it’s natural, and Hongjoong is, in fact, part (even if it’s a very teeny tiny -like him- part) Veela. It would make sense, given he is perhaps the most beautiful person Seonghwa has ever seen, even if he’s always hiding in oversized robes and disappearing inside the library, and the fact that he always manages to snatch Seonghwa’s attention, no matter where they are.'ORsoft Slytherin and Ravenclaw boyfriends seongjoong
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 25
Kudos: 286





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> super thanks to my amazing beta, as always
> 
> disclaimer: the author of this Hates jkr's terf racist ass and would gladly dropkick her in the face 
> 
> title is from Adore U by Seventeen, enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hello! if you follow me on twitter, you might have read this first chapter already because i posted it as a snippet some time ago hehet
> 
> you can skip directly to part two or reread this if you feel like it, its up to you!

“...ghwa? Are you listening to me?”

Seonghwa turns his head sharply to look at the girl (Yeeun? Yein? Seonghwa doesn’t remember. If he’s honest, he’s not sure he ever knew) that’s sitting on the desk beside his. Some distant part of his mind recalls her and her friends talking (to him? Over him? He’s not sure there’s a difference anymore, these days), but his attention has long since been stolen by the head of white hair and blue robes that ducked past their little group and hurried to the very back of the class some five minutes ago.

Hongjoong’s hair has been the same pearly white the seven years Seonghwa has known him, and despite the bad tongues saying that he dyes it to appear more edgy or cool, Seonghwa has always harbored his very own personal belief that it’s natural, and Hongjoong is, in fact, part (even if it’s a very teeny tiny -like him- part) Veela. It would make sense, given he is perhaps the most beautiful person Seonghwa has ever seen, even if he’s always hiding in oversized robes and disappearing inside the library, and the fact that he always manages to snatch Seonghwa’s attention, no matter where they are.

Like now, in Charms class, where Seonghwa can’t help but keep throwing subtle glances over his shoulder to where Hongjoong is huddled in the corner, glasses low on his nose as his quill moves over his notes. He’s doodling. Seonghwa knows this because he caught him one day, in fifth year, when they had Transfiguration together and he’d been in charge of passing along the corrected homework for the week. He’d caught a glance of Hongjoong’s parchment full of sketches before the other boy had quickly put it away to accept his essay ( _B-, could have been an A, try to pay more attention in class, Mr Kim,_ in Professor McGonagall’s handwriting) with blushing cheeks and a small _thanks_. Seonghwa had wanted to ask him about it, saw the perfect opening to start a conversation with Hongjoong that went further than _can you pass me that mouse?_ , but Soyeon chose that exact moment to make her teacup explode, and the chance was lost amongst the chaos.

And it’s not like Seonghwa doesn’t try to go and talk to Hongjoong. It’s just that, for some reason, for the past two years or so, he has somehow grown a fanbase. Seonghwa still isn’t sure what is it. Is it because he’s Quidditch captain? Because he’s prefect? Because of what Wooyoung calls _his dashingly good looks_? Jeong Yunho from Hufflepuff has all of those, too, but for some reason, girls follow Seonghwa around instead of him. Or maybe that’s because he’s dating San.

It’s a bit annoying, at times, especially when all he wants to do is go looking for Hongjoong in the library and ask him about his drawings, or about that book about Magic through Music of all Eras he was reading the other day instead of having breakfast. Choi Jongho had to feed him a piece of toast because he was too engrossed in his lecture to eat himself. It was endearingly fun to watch, and Seonghwa had, for a fleeting moment, wondered what it would be like if it were him instead of Jongho feeding Hongjoong toast. He’d quickly blushed and looked away, focused back on the Slytherin table, on whatever Yeosang was saying instead, and tried to push all thoughts of Hongjoong (and, by extension, Hongjoong’s mouth) away from his mind.

Yeosang knows.

To be fair, Yeosang knows _everything_ , so it’s no surprise at all when he came up to Seonghwa when he was in third year and Seonghwa was in fourth and shamelessly pointed out his very obvious crush on the Ravenclaw with the words _if you don’t ask him out to Hogsmeade this weekend, I will for you_ , subsequently making Seonghwa almost choke on his pumpkin juice. Needless to say, he, and by osmosis, Wooyoung and San, the other two heads of Seonghwa’s personal Cerberus, have had a ploy to get Seonghwa together with Hongjoong ever since they were thirteen.

Which means some very awkward group outings to Hogsmeade that looked like competitions to see who could blush the most, group study sessions that somehow involved half the student body (okay, maybe not that many people, but Wooyoung really shouldn’t have invited Seungkwan and expected him to show up _alone_ ) that ended in all of them getting kicked out of the library and Hongjoong looking like he’d rather dance a tango with a hippogriff than be associated with them ever again.

Eventually, Seonghwa had begged them to stop, which had placed him and Hongjoong in a difficult position where they aren’t exactly friends, but they’ve witnessed too many of San and Wooyoung’s stupidities together to be considered acquaintances. A position that doesn’t help Seonghwa’s purpose at all, because he never knows if Hongjoong would want to talk to him, now.

“Mr Park, is the combustion of your school robes voluntary or is your mind as far away as Lee’s _Avis_?” Professor Flitwick’s voice cuts through his reverie to make him realize that he has, in fact, accidentally lit a small fire on his tie.

“Shit,” he curses under his breath, pointing to it with his wand and conjuring some water to put it out, which in turn creates a small puddle on his desk. “Oh, _fuck_.”

“Let me,” the boy beside him says (Hansol? He’s pretty sure that’s his name), and makes the water disappear with a smooth movement of his wand.

“Thank you,” Seonghwa whispers to him, and the boy simply makes a gesture with his hand.

“No problem, man.”

Against his better judgement, he looks to far corner of the room and catches Hongjoong’s eyes. It looks like the small incident got his attention enough to look up from his doodles, and he gives Seonghwa a crooked smile that makes his eyes turn into crescents and Seonghwa’s heart beat like a stampede of centaurs. Hongjoong makes a little gesture at him, still smiling, to indicate him to turn back around, and Seonghwa has enough time to shoot Hongjoong a smile of his own before Flitwick is demanding his attention again.

The rest of the class passes by in a whirl, Seonghwa doesn’t even register the homework (he’ll have to ask Soyeon later) because he’s still high from Hongjoong’s smile. He packs his books and leaves the class in a cloud, not even seeing the flock of girls that await him at the door, and doesn’t fall from his very own personal heaven until someone pulls his sleeve, calling his name as they do so.

Seonghwa looks to his right and then down, and finds none other than Hongjoong staring up at him through his bangs, glasses so far down his nose that Seonghwa thinks they will fall any moment now. Hongjoong’s cheeks are slightly flushed (did he run to get to Seonghwa?) and he fidgets with the sleeve of Seonghwa’s robe as he looks at his eyes, then down, and then Seonghwa’s eyes again.

“What are you doing now?” he asks, like this is a normal occurrence. Seonghwa can feel his groupies burning holes into their backs with their eyes, but he doesn’t care, because Hongjoong is talking to him! Of his own accord! No Wooyoung or San to have bullied him into it!

“I- I was going to write my Transfiguration essay,” he replies, truthfully. This essay has been kicking his ass for the past three days, and he really needs to get a good grade on it because he had a bad start on the subject this trimester.

“Oh, okay,” Hongjoong says, and he definitely blushes now. Seonghwa feels his own cheeks heat up.

“Why? Did you want to do anything?” he questions, and mentally pats his own back for sounding as steady as he sounds.

Hongjoong’s eyes widen like he’s a deer caught in headlights. “I… actually.... I wanted to ask you whetheryou’dwanttostudytogether.”

“Pardon?” Seonghwa says, and Hongjoong blushes even harder.

“Do you want to study together?” he asks, in a voice so low Seonghwa barely catches it. It’s the same voice he uses to reply to questions in class when he thinks no one is listening to him.

“In the library?” Seonghwa asks, throwing a wary glance to his group of fans, who are still lurking nearby. The last thing he wants is to get interrupted when he finally has the chance to be alone with Hongjoong.

Hongjoong follows his eyes and grimaces. “There’s private study rooms,” he mutters, and Seonghwa looks back at him. “No one uses them anymore, but Madam Pince lets me use them when I want to be alone.”

“And you want me to join you?” Seonghwa asks, incredulous. Hongjoong nods, the tips of his ears red by now. Seonghwa would be a fool to say no. “Okay.”

Hongjoong looks up at him, surprised. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Seonghwa has to stop the urge to laugh. Hongjoong is so cute, and he just asked him to study together, Seonghwa could probably fly right now. “Lead the way, sprout,” he says, giving Hongjoong’s hair, which is standing up cutely from where he has undoubtedly run his hands through it, a meaningful look.

Hongjoong hastily places a hand on his unruly hair to tame it down and giggles, keeping a hand on Seonghwa’s sleeve as he pulls him through the crowd. Seonghwa hears gasps behind them. He couldn’t care less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the boys' sortings are:
> 
> Slytherin: seonghwa, yeosang, san  
> Ravenclaw: hongjoong, mingi  
> Gryffindor: wooyoung, jongho  
> Hufflepuff: yunho
> 
> i will not be taking constructive criticism ❤️


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uuuh basically hp au snippet went 🌀🌀🌀you wanna write a sequel so badly🌀🌀🌀 and i said yeah i do
> 
> enjoy some established dumb boyfriends who are very much in love ig

Something blocks Hongjoong's sunlight and he looks up from his History of Magic book with a scowl, which is quickly replaced with an amused eyebrow raise when he spots green robes and Seonghwa's blinding smile directed down at him.

"Found you," he says, one of his hands playing with his pristinely done tie absentmindedly. Hongjoong sort of wants to pull on the knot just so that he stops looking so perfect and making his heart feel like a box of Wildfire Whiz-Bangs.

"I wasn't hiding," he points out instead, and Seonghwa's smile does that thing where it looks like he's in pain, but that Hongjoong knows actually means he's seconds away from jumping at him.

"Still found you," he says triumphantly, and just as Hongjoong predicted, drops down unceremoniously on the floor beside him and throws his arms around him. Hongjoong allows it, but only because the corner of the yard where he chose to do his studying in this warm April afternoon is guarded from the stares of most of the other students out and about on the school grounds.

"Wow," he deadpans, tone a complete opposite of how fast his heart is beating. He puts his book down and lets Seonghwa snuggle close to him, taking in his soft and clean smell and relaxing involuntarily in his boyfriend's arms. "Are you sure you're a keeper? Maybe you should rebrand as Slytherin's new revelation seeker."

Seonghwa laughs at that, breathy and delightful, and Hongjoong still can't believe he gets this reaction to his stupid sassy remarks every single time. "I think Sannie would have my head," he says, voice amused, and Hongjoong feels the vibrations of it from where he has his head resting against his chest. "It was fun, though! I thought you would be in the library, but Madam Pince said she hadn't seen you all day, so I had to use my deduction skills."

It's Hongjoong who laughs this time. Seonghwa is so genuine and endearing; he never lets anything put him down and doesn't stop until he's achieved his goals.

"Did it hurt you to think a bit?" Hongjoong asks teasingly. He shifts in Seonghwa's hold to pretend to examine him. "I see your pretty hair is still all in place."

Seonghwa's eyes glint mischievously. "Wanna make a mess out of it?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows in what he thinks is a suggestive manner and leaning in.

Hongjoong places a hand on his chest before he gets too cheeky. "Not here."

He has no problem with physical contact when they are in private, but out in the open, it makes him squeamish to think someone might be looking at them. It took Seonghwa months of pouting and coercing before he managed to convince him to let him hold his hand in public, but kisses and bigger displays of affection are still very much out of the table for him.

Seonghwa pulls back with a small pout every time, but he always respects Hongjoong's boundaries.

"Can I at least have a small one?" he pleads, his eyes big and pretty, and Hongjoong sighs, because he knows he's defenseless in front of that look.

"Just one," he concedes, and he barely has time to appreciate the winning grin on Seonghwa's lips before they're on his.

Kissing Seonghwa is a bit like eating Fizzing Whizzbees: Hongjoong feels like his feet aren't touching the ground anymore. No matter how many times they've kissed before, there's always that thrill to it, that draw that takes Hongjoong's breath away and makes light explode in his veins.

Hongjoong is starting to rethink his own terms when Seonghwa pulls back with a little sigh, brushing a thumb over Hongjoong's cheekbone before putting more distance between them.

"That's enough, we don't wanna get cooties," he says, the corner of his mouth lifting in a little smile. His cheeks puff out cutely when he does, and a laughter line appears on the left one. Hongjoong loves it.

"Cooties?" he questions, lifting an eyebrow at Seonghwa. The taller boy nods before he scoots over and lets himself fall beside him, resting his head on Hongjoong's lap. Hongjoong feels himself blush, but he lets him do as he pleases, bringing a hand to card through his recently dyed sand-brown hair.

"They would tell us that in muggle school," Seonghwa explains, closing his eyes and smiling contentedly at the soothing contact. "Kiss a girl and you'll get cooties."

Hongjoong stares blankly at him for a few seconds, waiting for the catch. Seonghwa's stories about muggle school usually have some sort of punchline or funny comment at the end. When it's clear that Seonghwa won't say anything else, though, he asks, "That's it?"

Seonghwa makes a little affirmative noise. "That's it, don't kiss anyone until you're married or you'll die."

Hongjoong snorts. "That's bullshit."

"Isn't it? Religious schools are the _worst_ ," he explains, opening one eye and peering up at Hongjoong through his bangs. "I mean, it's not like it's a lot better in here, but at least I get you."

Hongjoong feels himself blush from head to toe, mouth snapping shut in embarrassment. "Shut up."

Seonghwa grins up at him, eyes bright with joy and adoration. He looks at Hongjoong like he's the only thing worth looking at, and Hongjoong, who is used to scurrying away from any sort of attention, feels a bit like he's dying every time Seonghwa's eyes are on him, which is basically all the time now.

"You're cute," Seonghwa informs him, and Hongjoong pulls on his hair.

"You're not."

Seonghwa pouts exaggeratedly at him before he bursts out laughing, his giggles making Hongjoong break out in a smile.

"So," Seonghwa says once he's calmed down. His eyes have that glint in them that means he's thinking of something that Hongjoong might not like.

"So," Hongjoong replies flatly. He thought Seonghwa might get tired of his clipped replies and not-so-playful jabs, but he just takes everything with an easy smile, apparently able to see the real feelings hiding behind Hongjoong's coarse exterior.

"This Saturday," Seonghwa poses, his eyes scanning Hongjoong's face.

"What about it?"

"It's match day," he replies, and pinches his bottom lip between his teeth. Hongjoong thinks he knows where this is going.

"Who're you playing?" he asks, feeling indulgent. Seonghwa gives him a timid smile.

"Hufflepuff," he says, something hopeful in his voice.

"Oh, Yunho?" Hongjoong questions, his eyebrows shooting up in curiosity in spite of himself.

Seonghwa nods. "It's a pretty important match."

"Is it, now?"

Seonghwa's face says he's only allowing Hongjoong's cheekiness because he thinks he's cute. He takes a breath and Hongjoong knows he's about to unload a bunch of statistics and probabilities on him. "If we win and Gryffindor loses against you guys next week by at least thirty points, we actually have a chance to win the Cup if we manage to outscore Ravenclaw by fifty points in May."

His eyes are sparkling with possibility and he's smiling hopefully by the end of his little speech, and Hongjoong wishes he cared more about Quidditch only to be able to share this joy with him. As it is, he doesn't, but he still enjoys watching Seonghwa talk about the things he loves.

With one of his hands, he traces the arc of Seonghwa's eyebrow, and then down his cheekbone. "Those sound like good odds."

Seonghwa beams up at him, snatching his hand and bringing it up to his lips. "They are," he says, pressing a kiss against Hongjoong's palm. "Come see me play."

And despite knowing it was coming, the request still makes Hongjoong feel like he's been punched. Maybe it's the hopeful expression and the lips against his skin.

"I-"

Seonghwa cuts him off before he can finish, "I know you don't really like Quidditch, but it would make me so happy."

He's giving Hongjoong the puppy eyes again, because he knows Hongjoong is unable to resist them, and Hongjoong knows he won't be able to say no to him.

"You want me there?" he asks, and Seonghwa is nodding before he has even finished the question. "Why?"

Seonghwa's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Why not? What kind of idiot doesn't want to show off in front of his boyfriend?"

Hongjoong lets out a disbelieving laugh. "Oh, it's like that? You think I'm impressed by cocky jocks?"

Seonghwa looks up innocently at him. "Aren't you dating one?"

Hongjoong is sure his face is doing something impossibly fond and foolish, but he can't say he cares. "No, I'm dating an idiot who thinks he's cocky but pouts at me when he doesn't get kisses."

Seonghwa smiles brilliantly at him, and Hongjoong sometimes feels like watching him smile is like staring directly into the sun. "It always works, though."

"Only because you look pathetic when you do," Hongjoong replies, like it's obvious. Seonghwa doesn't buy it, and just continues to smile dumbly up at him. "What?"

"I love you," Seonghwa replies, completely out of the blue. It's so unexpected it makes Hongjoong almost choke on air, blushing furiously as Seonghwa nuzzles against his hand and looks at him with stars in his eyes. Hongjoong scowls down at him through his blush.

"Ah no, I know what you're doing," he says, ignoring the knowing look on Seonghwa's face. "It won't work."

Seonghwa pretends to be sad all of a sudden, with his lips pouting ridiculously and his eyebrows lifting and making his already big eyes look bigger. "Does that mean you don't love me?"

Hongjoong rolls his eyes at him. "You know I do."

"Let me hear you say it, then," Seonghwa squeezes his hand. "'I love you, Seonghwa', c'mon, it's not difficult."

"You're a pain in the ass, Seonghwa," is what Hongjoong says instead, and Seonghwa sticks his tongue out at him.

"Rude."

"Don't be a baby," he chastises. Seonghwa makes a funny face at him and Hongjoong grabs his tie and pulls it over his face. It's a pity it's too warm for scarves, it's a lot easier to make Seonghwa shut up with them.

" _Hongjoongie_ ," Seonghwa whines, pushing his tie away and pouting up at him. "You're so mean to me."

"Someone has to be," Hongjoong reasons, squishing his cheeks. "Don't want you to turn into a _cocky jock_."

Seonghwa sighs, big and dramatic, and Hongjoong has to restrain a laugh. "Will you at least come see me play on Saturday?"

Hongjoong hums. "I'll think about it."

"I can live with that," Seonghwa decides, getting comfortable on Hongjoong's lap.

"Good, because I have to study and I was about to kick you out," Hongjoong says, picking his book back up and finding his page. He leans back against the wall of the castle and tangles a hand in Seonghwa's hair again.

"What are you studying?" Seonghwa asks softly, his eyes closed and lips stretched in a contented smile.

"History of Magic," Hongjoong replies absentmindedly, his focus shifting back to the book. Seonghwa hums.

"Nap time, then," he says. "Read to me?"

"Sure."

* * *

"I don't know, Wooyoungie, what if I jinx it?"

Wooyoung looks down at Hongjoong with raised eyebrows, the hand that isn't holding Yeosang's coming up to push against Hongjoong's forehead with a finger.

"We've been over this," he says, punctuating his words with little shoves. "If anything, he'll take you being there as good luck."

"But what if they lose and it's because I'm there and he's distracted and it's my fault and he breaks up with me and-"

"Oh Merlin, shut it, will you?!" Wooyoung throws his hands up in exasperation. "First, he would _never_ break up with you over something as dumb as a Quidditch game, and second, he won't be distracted because you're there. Hell, knowing Seonghwa he'll play even harder just to impress you."

"He's such a showoff sometimes," Yeosang comments with a little snicker.

"Only if it's to impress his Hongjoongie," Wooyoung says, wiggling his eyebrows in Hongjoong's direction.

Hongjoong feels himself blush, but he maintains his scowl. "Shut up."

"No, but seriously," Yeosang tells him, his dark eyes more comforting than Hongjoong remembers them to be, "you don't need to worry. If he asked you to be there it's because he wants you to be."

"Right, yeah, sorry, I'm just-"

"You're nervous, it's normal," Wooyoung assures him, throwing an arm over his shoulders. "But don't worry, we're here with you, and we might even catch Mingi and Jongho on our way there."

Hongjoong sighs, nodding. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be okay."

"That's the spirit!" Wooyoung laughs, and laces his other arm with Yeosang's. "Let's go, my boys, if we hurry, our Hongjoong might still be able to give his prince charming a good luck kiss."

Hongjoong blushes again, elbowing Wooyoung's side, but stays silent this time, the looming silhouette of the stadium making his throat close up with nerves. Rivers of students are marching in the same direction as them, most of them clad in green or yellow, but Hongjoong spots some outliers such as Wooyoung and himself, people who are here just for the fun of it, or to show support to a friend from another house. It doesn't quell Hongjoong's anxiety, but it helps looking at them to feel more like he belongs. Wooyoung doesn't let him go as they make their way to the stadium's entrance, and that also helps, the weight of his arm grounding him.

They make it to the entrance and are about to climb the stairs up to the stands when someone kidnaps Hongjoong.

"What-"

"Shh, we only have two minutes," someone mutters in his ear as they push him away from the crowd and into the guts of the stadium. Hongjoong only lets them because he knows that voice.

"Sannie, you could have asked, really."

San laughs behind him. "Yeah, but it wouldn't have been as fun or quick."

Hongjoong sighs as the door to what he presumes to be the locker room comes into sight and is opened by a few people wearing green, one of which is his very own confused boyfriend.

"What is thi-" Seonghwa cuts his question off as he spots Hongjoong and San. " _Oh_."

"Two minutes, Captain," San chirps, giving Hongjoong one last shove and breezing past them, taking the other players who dragged Seonghwa out back inside with him.

Hongjoong regains his footing and looks up at Seonghwa, who is standing a couple of meters away and looking at him like it's the first time he sees him.

"You came," he says, and his voice sounds way more awed than what the situation requires, in Hongjoong's opinion.

"Well, someone was very annoying about it," he mutters, lifting a shoulder, going for nonchalant and failing when Seonghwa closes the distance between them in two long strides and cups his face with his hands.

"Shut up just for once," he breathes against Hongjoong's lips before kissing him square in the mouth.

There's a million reasons why Hongjoong would pull away from a kiss like this: they're in public, anyone could walk out of the locker room and see them, it's far too heated for a place like this, it makes him feel like he's on fire, and that terrifies him. Instead, he makes a little sound at the back of his throat and pushes to his tiptoes, wrapping his arms around Seonghwa's neck and burying his hands in his hair.

Seonghwa gasps when Hongjoong sucks on his bottom lip, the action granting him full access to lick into his mouth, Seonghwa's tongue immediately coming to meet his. It's by far one of the hottest kisses they've had, and Hongjoong feels dizzy with the feeling of Seonghwa's hands on him, the drag of Seonghwa's tongue against his, the press of their bodies lined together.

To his disappointment, it's Seonghwa who pulls back first, breaking away with a sharp breath and wide eyes that look at Hongjoong like he's just discovered a fundamental secret of the universe. Hongjoong meets his stare with fiery eyes, and sees Seonghwa gulp.

"Wow, o-okay," Seonghwa stutters, trying to catch his breath. "We definitely need to do that again later."

And Hongjoong laughs, joy and adoration filling his chest, because Seonghwa is lame and adorable and charming, and he's all _his_. He's still not sure he's not dreaming, most days.

"Good luck out there," he tells him, unable to contain his smile, and Seonghwa looks like he just punched him on the gut.

"God, don't do that, I have to go," he pleads.

"Don't do what?" Hongjoong asks innocently. Seonghwa groans.

"You're the absolute worst," he informs him just as someone bangs on the door from the inside. "I gotta go."

"Good luck," Hongjoong says again as he untangles himself from him. Seonghwa lets him go with a last longing glance. "Try to impress me."

Seonghwa's whine of _Hongjoong_ follows him all the way to the stairs, where Wooyoung and Yeosang are waiting for him with twin smirks on their faces.

"Not a word," he hisses at them, beginning to stomp up the stairs, and for once, they listen to him.

* * *

The stands are loud and Hongjoong hates them.

They find that Mingi and Jongho have saved them seats, and Hongjoong ends up squeezed in between his fellow Ravenclaw and Wooyoung as a voice announces it's five minutes until the game is set to begin.

"Is that still Daehwi?" Wooyoung asks Jongho, who is sitting on Mingi's other side.

The younger Gryffindor nods. "He managed to sweet talk McGonagall."

"What happened?" Hongjoong questions when he realizes he's the only one who doesn't know what they're talking about.

"Ah, just the usual." Wooyoung shrugs.

"Daehwi got… feisty with his commentary on the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match," Mingi explains.

"McGonagall threatened to give him detention for a month, but we all know she has a soft spot for him," Jongho adds, shaking his head.

"It's only because he's good at Transfiguration, if it had been me, I'd still be cleaning toilets," Wooyoung whines.

"You could try this thing, it's called listening in class every once in a while, I hear it works wonders," Yeosang says on his other side.

Wooyoung turns to smile sweetly at him. "Why would I do that when I can just borrow your notes?"

"Because I might forget to give them to you," Yeosang replies, equally sweetly.

Hongjoong snorts at that, and Mingi and Jongho let out loud laughs beside him. In front of this reaction, Wooyoung pouts, crossing his arms and sinking on his seat.

“Whatever, look at the game.”

Hongjoong looks down, and sees that the teams have effectively started to line up one in front of the other in the middle of the field. From up here, he can barely distinguish anyone, but he sees two tall figures, one in green and the other in yellow, shake hands before Madam Hooch’s whistle sends everyone up into the air. Hongjoong’s eyes follow the little green figure until he’s situated before the hoops, and his stomach feels like it’s about to drop with anticipation.

“He’ll be fine,” Wooyoung murmures beside him, placing his hand on Hongjoong’s knee. Hongjoong tears his eyes away from Seonghwa’s tiny figure and looks back at his other friend. “You don’t need to look that worried.”

Hongjoong nods, sheepishly biting on his thumb. He knows that, but that doesn’t mean he feels any less anxious, almost as if, by being here, he will make something go horribly wrong.

“He’ll be fine,” he repeats, and Wooyoung gives him a proud smile.

"Just focus on cheering as loud as you can, and on how to sneak into the Slytherin dorms later," he says with a wink.

Hongjoong chokes on spit just as the whistle that signals the beginning of the game rings through the air. "Wooyoung!"

"What! I'm just saying they're under the lake, and the lighting makes things very _interesting_ ," the Gryffindor says suggestively.

"Merlin, I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Hongjoong whines, covering his ears with his hands and melting in his seat.

Wooyoung's reply is stopped by an arm around his neck.

"Stop traumatizing him, dickhead," Yeosang says as he puts Wooyoung in a headlock. He doesn't look like much, but Hongjoong knows from experience (running away from Finch and being hoisted onto a niche to hide) that he's a lot stronger than what his appearance suggests.

"Yeosangie! Let me go! I'm just speaking the truth!" Wooyoung whines, kicking his feet futilely.

Yeosang doesn't budge. "But he doesn't need to know."

"Uh, guys?" Jongho's voice breaks through Wooyoung's whines and manages to grab their attention. Wooyoung uses the distraction to get out of Yeosang's hold and wrap an arm around Hongjoong's shoulders.

"Yes?" he asks genially. Jongho fixes him with an unimpressed look.

"Maybe tune it down a bit, we're not really interested in whatever you get up to in the Slytherin dorms," he replies, and Hongjoong can't help but nod fervently.

"Also, you’re about to miss the first ten points," Mingi adds offhandedly, his legs propped on the empty seat in front of him and his eyes following the action in the air with lazy movements.

"What?!" Wooyoung screeches, turning to look at the pitch with big eyes. Hongjoong follows his stare and sees that, effectively, one of the Slytherin chasers, a girl with blond hair tied in a long ponytail, dashes across the field, expertly dodges a bludger sent her way by Yunho, and fires a powerful shot that goes in the middle hoop, the Hufflepuff keeper getting there just a second too late.

Noise explodes all around them, deafening cheers and boos, and amid it all, Daehwi’s voice reviewing the play. “And Yeji opens the game kicking ass as usual and grants Slytherin the first ten points! I don't know about you, but I think Juyeon is still trying to see where she came from!"

Hongjoong looks alarmed at Wooyoung, who cackles at the last comment. "Is it always like this?"

"Oh, this is being _nice_ for Daehwi!" Wooyoung yells over the uproar of the crowd, which seems to be permanent now as the game continues.

Hongjoong tries to follow it, he really does, but more often than not, his attention keeps sliding back to the Slytherin hoops, where Seonghwa is nothing more than a tiny green blur moving in front of them. For the most part, he's pretty unbothered, the Slytherin chaser line (a terrifying trio formed by the aforementioned Yeji, a girl who shares Hongjoong's runes class named Sakura, and a tall and serious girl who Yeosang informs him is named Tzuyu) is a force to be reckoned with, and out of the two keepers in the game, Juyeon is taking the brunt of it. Seonghwa focuses on directing the two beaters, Changbin and Jisoo, to keep the Hufflepuff chasers from getting the quaffle. And it works, Hufflepuff doesn't get an offensive opportunity until a good twenty minutes in, when the tallest chaser manages to steal the quaffle from Sakura and darts across the pitch at breakneck speed.

Hongjoong holds his breath, fingers digging into Wooyoung's arm in anticipation, but Seonghwa, far from getting nervous, faces the chaser ( _Doyeon_ , Daehwi announces) and deflects her shot with a graceful kick.

"Hell yeah!" Wooyoung hollers beside him, and Hongjoong is dragged up with him when he springs to his feet.

It goes on for almost an hour, a back and forth that Hongjoong struggles to follow but finds himself enjoying in spite of himself. The Hufflepuff chasers manage to sneak a few quaffles past Seonghwa, but it's nothing compared to the hell the Slytherin girls are unleashing on poor Juyeon.

And then, in a moment of breathless frenesy, the two seekers dive in from the sky at almost the same time, and everyone holds their breaths as San and Yoojung both reach for the snitch, which was flapping a few meters from one of the Hufflepuff hoops.

Wooyoung clings to Hongjoong, and Hongjoong grabs him just as tightly, not daring to breathe until San resurfaces with a grin that's threatening to split his face and a little golden orb glinting in his hand.

If Hongjoong thought the noise before was unbearable, it's nothing compared to the absolute chaos that erupts around them when everyone realizes what happened. Wooyoung and Mingi yell on either side of him, and Hongjoong thinks his brain is melting as he watches the Slytherin team all fly to pile up on San, who looks the happiest Hongjoong has ever seen him.

The final score is two hundred and eighty to ninety as the two teams line up to shake hands with each other, and Hongjoong feels bad for the Hufflepuffs. Yoojung is leaning heavily on Doyeon, the taller girl wrapping an arm around her shoulders, as one of the other chasers, Chaeyeon, tries to comfort an unconsolable Eunbi, who's sobbing as she shakes everyone's hands. Beside them, Jehyun and Juyeon flank a serious Yunho who begrudgingly accepts a kiss on the cheek from a beaming San, and a hug from Seonghwa with a lot more grace.

"Come on," Wooyoung urges Hongjoong, who is trying to not pass out from the amount of stimuli.

"What?"

"Let's go!"

"Where?" he manages to ask as Wooyoung pulls him through the crowd.

"To the changing rooms, duh!" Wooyoung yells back, and Hongjoong doesn't even complain, because it _was_ obvious, he's just dumb and overwhelmed. Wooyoung breezes through the people, Hongjoong's hand held firmly in his, and Hongjoong allows him to pull him along until the already familiar set of doors appears in front of them.

The scene awaiting them inside the changing room is a miniature reprise of the one going on outside. People are yelling, hopping around in excitement, hugging or, in Yeji and Jisoo's case, even kissing each other, and in the middle of it all, there’s Seonghwa, glowing from happiness, his hair a mess of sweaty strands and his grin so big his eyes are nothing but crescents. He turns around when the doors open, and time seems to stop for a second when he spots Hongjoong and calls out his name, voice hoarse from yelling.

Hongjoong doesn’t remember telling his legs to move, but suddenly he’s running in his direction, jumping into his arms when they meet halfway. Seonghwa’s eyes are the brightest thing Hongjoong has ever seen, and in this moment, he doesn’t care who might be watching, he grabs Seonghwa’s face with his hands and slams their lips together.

The noise that erupts around them is nothing compared to the roaring of Hongjoong’s blood in his own ears when Seonghwa all but growls into his mouth, kissing him back immediately with a force that has Hongjoong seeing stars behind his closed eyelids. Seonghwa’s hands squeeze his thighs, and Seonghwa’s tongue is in his mouth, and Seonghwa’s hair is tangling on his fingers, and all that Hongjoong can feel and smell and taste is Seonghwa, Seonghwa, _Seonghwa._

"You… were… amazing," Hongjoong manages to say in between kisses, not wanting to part from Seonghwa, but also needing him to know just how well he did. "I'm so… proud… of you."

"Shut up," Seonghwa pants, bringing their foreheads together and breathing heavily into Hongjoong's lips. "You're gonna make me wanna ask you to come again next time."

Hongjoong laughs, happiness and secondhand adrenaline making him feel light and bubbly. "I might."

Seonghwa's eyes widen in surprise, and he drops Hongjoong to the ground before he cups his cheeks, squeezing them with his hands. "For real?"

"Yeah," Hongjoong confirms, smiling up at him as much as he can, and Seonghwa looks like he will burst out crying for a second.

"God, I love you so much," he croaks out, and Hongjoong knows the eyes of everyone in the room are on them, but he doesn't care, because Seonghwa is staring at him like he's the center of the entire universe, and that's all that matters.

"So I've heard," he says, grinning when Seonghwa pouts at him, just like he knew he would.

"Say it back just once," he pleads, and really, it's amazing how little he cares about looking cool when Hongjoong is involved. "'I love you too, Seonghwa', c'mon, it's not difficult."

And Hongjoong could draw this out, make him pout some more, but he thinks he probably deserves something nice for his victory.

His smile turns from teasing to adoring, and he can see the way Seonghwa's eyes widen with recognition just before he says, "I love you too, Seonghwa, congrats on your win."

There's wolf whistles when Seonghwa kisses him this time, but Hongjoong finds he couldn't care less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! 
> 
> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/thewintersobber)!
> 
> also if you like my work, consider buying your local possum writer a [coffee](https://ko-fi.com/thewintersobber)

**Author's Note:**

> the boys' sortings are:
> 
> Slytherin: seonghwa, yeosang, san  
> Ravenclaw: hongjoong, mingi  
> Gryffindor: wooyoung, jongho  
> Hufflepuff: yunho
> 
> i will not be taking constructive criticism ❤️


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